Moffat Academy Secondary News 2022/23 - Term 3

MVPs

Following a recent survey, our MVPs have reported the following:

Examples of how our skills improved:

Better team working skills
Taught me how to work with groups of younger people who don’t want to participate
Feel more confident speaking in front of an audience
More confident in speaking in front of people
Confidence improvement
Slightly more confident
When people ask me about situations I understand and give good advice
It helped bring better communication and team working skills with both peers in my year, as well as younger classmates
My presentation and organisation skills have improved
I have become more confident when speaking if front of people
Improved ability to speak in front of groups
Learning about bullying
Team work and leadership- delegate roles for speaking
More confident in presenting

11/15 pupils who took the survey agreed that MVP helped build good relationships between mentors and younger pupils.

14/15 agreed that MVP has helped them realise that they have a responsibility to ensure pupils in my school are safe and included.

15/15 agreed that MVP has helped them recognise healthy and unhealthy relationships

15/15 agreed that MVP helped me understand that there are different ways to help if they see bullying or abusive behaviour

15/15 agreed that MVP has made it more likely that they would take action if they saw a pupil being bullied or abused

Dumfries & Galloway Burns Association Competition

Two Moffat Academy students represented the school on February 18th at the Dumfries and Galloway Burns Association Competition.

Ryan Wilson (S3), our resident bagpiper, gave an excellent rendition of Burns' 'Scots Wae Hae' and 'Pipe Major Willie Ross Farewell to the Scots Guards'. Kathryn Wilson (S2) performed an inspiring recitation of 'Tae a Louse'.

Both did themselves proud, with Ryan winning 1st place in the S3 Bagpiping competition and Kathryn taking 2nd place for her recitation. Well done to them both from all at Moffat Academy!

YPI

Our S1 students have participated in the highly successful Young Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) programme this year. This is a pioneering programme delivered in school with a focus on supporting people experiencing hardship or difficulty within our community. The aim is for students to participate in a competition, creating presentations bidding for financial support for local charities. This furthers their understanding of issues impacting people around the world, as well as locally, and gives them a chance to take action and help. This programme is supported by YPI, and is funded by the The Holywood Trust and Moffat Academy.

This term, students were led by Mr Yuill, tasked with identifying a social issue impacting our wider Moffat and Beattock community that they felt passionate about. They were put into groups and asked to select a local charity that is actively working to address this social issue. Over six weeks, learners have completed research, liaised with charities, created presentations (and videos), and created advertisements in preparation for the YPI Showcase Competition.

The competition took place on Wednesday 29th March, with six groups vying for first place in front of an audience of charity representatives, friends and family and their peers. It was a tough call from our judges, but the group composed of Liam Jack, Frederick Brown, Harry Weatherstone and Alfie Wallace one the £3000 for our local charity Men Shed.

Well done to all involved and we would like to say thank you to Alistair Cairns from YPI for attending the final and assisting with the judging. It was an amazing day designed to support our local community. We can't wait to see what next year brings!

#YPI

#HolywoodTrust

World Autism Acceptance Week

During World Autism Acceptance Week, Secondary pupils viewed the powerpoint presentation below:

World_Autism_Acceptance_Week.pdf

U14 Football

On Wednesday 22/03/2023 Moffat Academy U14's football team played their semi-final match vs Kirkcudbright. It was touch and go with the pitch due to the rain fall in the days prior to the match, however, the pitch was deemed playable. Moffat had a bright start to the match and put early pressure on Kirkcudbright with a couple of shots on goal from Alfie Hughes and Alfie Thomson, with little reaction from the away side. After a few great saves from the Kirkcudbright goalkeeper, Moffat opened the scoring with a wonderful finish from Alfie Hughes. Kirkcudbright reacted well to going a goal behind and attacked the Moffat goal, however the pressure was not sustained, and Moffat went 2-0 up with a goal from Alfie Thomson. Shortly after, Alfie Thomson grabbed his brace with a wonder finish with his right foot for Moffats 3^rd goal of the game. The weather worsened at half time, and at the start of the second half, Kirkcudbright gave themselves a lifeline with a goal scored directly from the corner flag. As the game came to a close, with 10 minutes to go, Frederick Brown produced a bit of magic by taking the ball down, beating his man and calmly slotting the ball into the left-hand corner to cement Moffat place in the cup final.

Man of the match - Reilly Jack and Finlay McKenna shared the man of the match award.

Kayantics stone age experience

Moffat youngsters headed back in time when they participated in an exciting new educational venture giving them a taste of life in the Stone Age.

The Living History Project, a new initiative from local business, Kayantics, gave S1-S3 pupils the chance to experience life as hunter gatherers. The young people honed their leather work and thatching skills before grinding corn and making their own bread over an open fire. All this took place within slingshot of a bespoke Stone Age shelter built on site by the Kayantics team, with some help from Moffat Academy senior pupils.

A fantastic learning experience and a day to remember for all involved.

UNCRC Article 29 (goals of education) Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

Scottish Young Musician's Competition

Our talented S6 musician Grace Rowan represented Moffat Academy in the Scottish Young Musician's Competition on Wednesday 23^rd March. She has been honing her skills for years, instructed by Ruairidh Macmillan of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Blazin Fiddles, and was able to showcase her talents during the competition. She performed a medley of 'The Prophet' by Lauren MacColl, 'Catch and Miss the Romp', and 'Miss Dundas of Arniston' by William Gow. She performed brilliantly, with a few photographs of her performance included below. Well done to Grace for taking her talents to a national stage - we can't wait to see what else you can achieve.

UNCRC Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

Edinburgh Zoo Visit

On Monday 20^th March all Higher and Advanced Higher Biology students had the opportunity to visit Edinburgh Zoo to engage in two workshops. The first session was an Introduction to the behaviour of primates examining primate evolution and social structures of this social group. The second session was an animal handling lesson which focused on structural and behavioural adaptations and the processes of natural selection and speciation.

Hannah Stewart(S5) has been successful in her application form for the science summer school at the wildlife park in Aviemore. More information about the free work experience can be found here https://www.rzss.org.uk/education/science-summer-school/

S3 Dream Houses in Graphic Communication

S3 Graphic Communication pupils have been designing their own dream houses. They sketched their initial ideas and building on their own research came up with final designs. They then have used 3d computer modelling software to produce computer renders of their final houses. I think everyone will agree that they have all produced some incredible designs. A whole new generation of budding architects and engineers.

Moffat Academy Cross Country Running Team

The Moffat Academy Cross Country running team who attended a regional competition at Dalbeattie High School. The route became very muddy as the races progressed, but the Moffat team were up to the challenge. All the students represented their school in an excellent manner and ran well in difficult conditions. Well done to all those who competed and all pupils at Moffat Academy who have now completed their Cross-Country Running training programme.

UNCRC Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

u14 Rugby

Annual Scottish Energy Networks Competition.

Moffat Academy's U14 teams travelled to Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow to take part in the Annual Scottish Energy Networks competition. Moffat were pitted against some very strong opposition from schools across Scotland throughout the day.

Moffat demonstrated some fantastic rugby, excellent teamwork and real determination in all of their games. The scores were as follows:

Moffat Boys S1

2-0 win v Biggar High

7-1 loss v Balfron High

3-2 win v Wellington

Moffat Boys S2

3-3 v Biggar High

7-3 loss v Balfron

8-3 win v Wellington

Moffat U14 Girls

5v2 Loss v Biggar High

6v3 Loss v Balfron

6v0 Win v Wellington

Despite some fantastic results against some really high level opposition, Moffat just missed out on a qualification place for the next round.

A true credit to our school and to the Moffat Rams, each and every player should be proud of their performances.

A special thanks to Rams coaches Cammy Little, Andrew Wallace and Kelly Horne for their help, assistance and expertise on the day. Mr Spellacy from Moffat Academy also provided great support and insight throughout the competition.

Well done to all players as we now look ahead to the regional finals day.

Moffat Rugby Football Club

Regional Finals - 24th March 2023

Moffat Academy U14s Rugby Teams travelled to Dumfries Park Farm today to compete in the regional finals.

Both teams coped extremely well in some difficult Rugby conditions, especially mud under foot!

They played against teams from Lockerbie, Castle Douglas, Dumfries High School, Stranraer Academy and Wallace Hall.

The boys played excellent Rugby, coming up against some really strong teams. They never gave up and worked incredibly hard, demonstrating real heart and teamwork. Despite some very close and difficult results, they can hold their heads high and be very proud of themselves.

Team:

Archie Dowson (C)

Robbie Ferries (VC)

Harry Graham (Player's Player)

Liam Jack

Alfie Wallace

Murray Green

Harry Brown

Reilly Jack

Joseph Murray

Harry Weatherstone

James Wilson

Rory Alston

The girls had some great success, showcasing their talents in support play, attacking running and solid tackling. Despite only having 8 players on the day, they worked hard for one another and never gave up. They won all of their matches and they ended their tournament with a nail biting 3-3 draw with Lockerbie Academy. Such was the closeness of the results, the referees had to look back at tries scored to determine an eventual winner. In true heartbreaking style, Moffat Girls U14 team lost out on first place by a single try! Disappointment for the girls but they remained positive, upbeat and proud of their performances.

Each member of both teams were a credit to their schools today and represented Moffat Academy in an exemplary way.

Thanks also to the organisers for an excellent tournament.

We are also very grateful to the coaches from Moffat Rugby club, Cammy and Kelly, with whom we couldn't do without and to Mr Spellacy for his help and encouragement on the day.

Team:

Rhianna Notman

Emily Hume

Macy McCulloch

Kiera Sprott

Leah Wilson

Ocean Kerr

Lauren Jack

Liesle Cable

MR MEOLA

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UNCRC Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

Sports Athletics

Congratulations to the Moffat Academy sports hall athletics team who competed in the national competition today. The girls team finished 2nd by only 5 points and the boys team finish joint first. Well done to the entire team who competed with great determination and participated in an excellent manner in this event. Many thanks to Scottish athletics for organising.

UNCRC Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

Safer Internet Day

As part of Safer Internet Day we shared a Safer Schools App with all S1 pupils on Tuesday 7^th February. Pupils watched the short presentation which S2 pupils helped to create and then pupils had the chance to add the app to their phone.

The App is designed to support and protect children by educating and empowering Parents and Carers. Through your log-in, you can get access to tips and advice on how to stay safer online.

UNCRC Article 17 (access to information from the media) Every child has the right to reliable information from a variety of sources, and governments should encourage the media to provide information that children can understand. Governments must help protect children from materials that could harm them.

Finance Talks

Thank you to Ailsa Paton from Young Enterprise Scotland who provided our S6 cohort with two informative talks on finance. S6 pupils were fully engaged and found the talks very helpful.

Drama Face Painting

The Drama Department managed to finally dust off their face paints after a long rest during Covid! S3 used director briefs to create make up designs and enjoyed an afternoon exploring the use of paints to execute their ideas.

David Mundell

David Mundell, our local MP, visited Moffat Academy to answer questions from a group of keen and enthusiastic Modern Studies pupils.

Students spent a lively hour quizzing Mr Mundell on all aspects of his job and on local, national and international issues that were of interest to them.

David Ayling visit

Dave Ayling kindly came to see our National 5 Physicists to give us a talk about his exciting career. Dave uses laser technology, drones and the latest photographic techniques as a land surveyor. He had to bring his own PC as the software is so specialist and the file sizes so massive. This allowed us to glimpse his latest projects. Dave has been travelling all around Scotland mapping everything from gold mines to potential building sites. He also showed us how the technology can be used for film making and computer games. The highlight of his talk involved creating a real time 3D map of the lab including all of us sitting inside it! It really was a great insight into how the Maths and Science we learn in School relates directly to many interesting and varied career paths.

UNCRC Article 28 (right to education) Every child has the right to an education. Primary education must be free and different forms of secondary education must be available to every child. Discipline in schools must respect children’s dignity and their rights. Richer countries must help poorer countries achieve this.

STEM Ambassador Visit: Jodie Shannon

Former pupil Jodie Shannon visited Moffat Academy last week for a two day placement to promote and support Science and STEM. Jodie studies Biology at University in Aberdeen and spent time with young people from all levels of Science, from S1 to S6. Jodie gave S3 Science pupils an insight into her experiences whilst travelling during her gap year. She also provided an informative and engaging session for senior pupils about University life.

S1 Ellisland Farm Trip

S1 students from Moffat Academy travelled to Ellisland Farm on Friday 27th January, following in the footsteps of Robert Burns. This marked the beginning of their study of Burns, and gave them an understanding of the mark he has left on Dumfries and Galloway (as well as the rest of Scotland).

In the morning the cohort were led through Burns' home and farm buildings, as well as through the orchard, looking at artefacts and learning about Burns' daily life. They then took up residence in the barn where they enacted their own Burns Supper. We had two poetry recitals from Robbie Paterson and Blake McEwan, as well as an Address to the Haggis by Moffat Academy's very own Mr McPhee. After feasting on a meal of haggis, neeps and tatties, they cohort took a walk along the Tam O'Shanter river trail to end the trip. A truly enriching and immersive experience for all, setting the bar high for next year's cohort.

Wider Achievement - Liesl Cable S2

A huge congratulations to Liesl Cable S2 who gained a silver medal at the Scottish Schools Athletics Association Championships Under 15 Girls at the Emirates Arena. Well done Liesl!

UNCRC Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

YPI Launch 2022/23

Moffat Academy officially launched the YPI programme on Tuesday 17^th January. The YPI programme is run by the Wood Foundation and aims to help solve social problems in local communities. Young people from S1 were given an introduction to the programme from Mr Yuill, Mrs Woods, Miss McNaughton and the regional YPI faciltator Alistair Cairns. S1 will choose a charity to support and put forward a business case to a panel of judges at the final showcase at the end of March. Their business case will be presented via a play, song/rap, pre recorded performace, PowerPoint presentation, the options are endless. We look forward to seeing how creative our young people can be!

The winning group will receive a £3000 grant from the Wood Foundation. A thank you to Alistair Cairns for taking the time to come to the school to open the programme.

PSE Talks - shirley jones and PC Irons

Thank you Shirley Jones, our Careers Adviser, for holding some information sessions recently with our young people and to PC Irons for his talk on Social Media safety.

S3 Celtic connections trip

S3 Music Performing and Music Technology students attended a Celtic Connections performance at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Friday 20^th January. This event was attended by over 40 schools from all over Scotland, and was a truly enriching experience. They first experienced beautiful music from the duo Ron Jappy on the guitar and Rachel Hare on the Harp. This was followed by the famous trio Peat and Diesel, who had the entire audience singing along with them by the end of their electric performance. Students thoroughly enjoyed attending this performance, with this being some students' first trip to Glasgow and first time attending a musical performance. A brilliant day; one that we intend to do again next year.

UNCRC Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

Moffat Academy Mountain Bike Club

Great fun has been had by all at the Secondary MTB club this term. New members welcome every week. A great way to learn new skills and practice the FUNdamentals!

UNCRC Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

LGBT Staff Training

Moffat Academy are working towards achieving the LGBT school charter award at gold level which will send a clear message to all young people that they are valued and respected. As part of this, staff have successfully undertaken LGBT training. Well done to all.

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Senior Berlin Trip

Many of our S5 and S6 pupils enjoyed exploring Berlin last term. Here they are at the East Side Gallery.

UNCRC Article 31 (leisure, play and culture) Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.